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Opening Up New Possibilities
Leading the Environmental Device and Industrial Machinery Fields through Boundless Curiosity
Uenotex Co., Ltd.
Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture
Hidemasa Ueno (left), Chairman and Yutaka Yanagi (right), Department Manager, Production Technology Department and Quality Assurance Department
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| Address |
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7396-10 Kakizaki, Kakizaki-ku, Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture |
| Established |
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April 1965 (began operations in 1937) |
| Businesses |
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Contracted manufacturing of environmental devices and industrial machinery, consignment processing, and crane development and manufacturing |
| URL |
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http://www.uenotex.co.jp/en/ |
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Joetsu City’s Kakizaki-ku nestles in the rich nature between the magnificent Sea of Japan and sacred Mount Yoneyama, called the “Mt. Fuji of Echigo.” It once flourished as a post station on the northern route connecting Sado and Edo. We visited Uenotex, a local industrial machinery manufacturer that has focused on craftsmanship for 80 years. We asked them about their business activities, including their primary product, the development and manufacturing of crushers.
Using the spirit of innovation to develop unique technologies and become a top manufacturer of environmental devices
Uenotex Co., Ltd. began operations in 1937 under Yasushi Ueno, the father of company chairman Hidemasa Ueno. It celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. Since its foundation, the company has dedicated itself for many years to improving and maintaining factory equipment for major steel manufacturers and chemical manufacturers in Naoetsu and other nearby areas. In 2000, it succeeded in overhauling the design of crushers used in waste disposal and recycling. Uenotex then patented the design and began focusing on crusher development and manufacturing as a core business.
Uenotex crushers are notable for the unusual way they mesh the fixed blades of the crusher body with the rotating blades of the rotor. Taking inspiration from scissor blades, they optimized the way that the crusher blades engage, producing crushers capable of cutting scrap with half the force of conventional crushers. Their UC Series of products, which features this technology, has become the top brand of crushers.
“At the time we had just begun our environmental equipment business. We decided to enter the crusher field and started development of our own unique products. There wouldn’t be any point in making a product like all the others on the market, so we racked our brains and came up with this idea. The market’s recognition of the quality of our products created momentum for our company’s growth,” says Chairman Hidemasa Ueno.
The company’s dedication to craftsmanship is another of the reasons for the tremendous support they enjoy from their products’ numerous users. This can be seen in their decision to keep processes in-house, from development to design, machining, electrical control, and assembly. Their products offer exceptional performance even in harsh disaster sites. Members of national and local governments learned of the exceptional performance of their products in processing debris from the Great East Japan Earthquake, leading to the deployment of Uenotex crushers in restoration projects following the Kumamoto Earthquake. Its development approach and technical skills have been recognized, leading to selection for awards such as Niigata Prefecture’s Economic Recovery Award and the Good Company Award.
Aiming to expand its business domains through its advanced quality assurance system
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Plant exterior
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Plant interior overhead crane |
In addition to crusher development and manufacturing, Uenotex engages in a wide range of businesses, such as contracted industrial machinery development, precision machining of industrial machinery parts and other articles, and development and manufacturing of diverse industrial cranes featuring cutting-edge technologies.
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Mitutoyo FALCIO-APEX 203015
large-scale CNC coordinate measuring machine
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Chairman Hidemasa Ueno discusses the company’s precision machining strengths; “Our primary area of focus is large-scale industrial machinery. We also excel at processing complex shapes using our five shaft simultaneous processing machines and precision machining, meeting high-level precision requirements.”
The company makes frequent use of Mitutoyo's FALCIO-Apex 203015 large-scale CNC coordinate measuring machine as one of the central elements in the quality assurance system it uses to support its precision processing. Uenotex chose this model for its ability to meet the high-level measurement precision quality requirements of its commissioned and contracted large-scale industrial machinery parts customers. It performs measurement in a thermostatic, humidostatic precision measurement room in its own factory. The room also has an antechamber for preparing large measurement objects for the measurement room’s environment. Uenotex ensures quality using this robust measurement environment.
Uenotex measures various industrial machinery parts. For example, it needs to perform high-precision processing of large servo press bearings, measuring one meter in diameter, to a tolerance of 20 microns.
Its next goal is to enter the aerospace industry. “Moving into a business field that demands the highest level of processing technologies will further improve our technical level. This is why the chairman, president, and all of us in the company have long had our sights set on the aerospace industry,” emphasizes Yutaka Yanagi, Department Manager of the Production Technology Department and the Quality Assurance Department. In 2011, the company acquired JISQ9100 quality management system certification for the aerospace industry, and it has already started accepting orders for airplane parts, setting out on the path to achieving its new goals.
Uenotex has continued to precisely meet customer needs, manufacturing exceptional products in the industrial machinery industry, with its individual product designs. With its sincere and united approach, and its spirit of innovation, we expect Uenotex to continue on this successful path.
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